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OKR Template

Set the period and the owner, write up to five objectives with up to five key results each, and give every key result a start, a target and a current value. Progress works itself out. Switch to the check-in view each week and to scoring at the end of the quarter, then print, copy or download the set as CSV. Load the sales team or field service example to see a finished one.

How to write OKRs that work

An OKR is one objective and the few key results that prove you got there. The builder flags key results that have no number or read like a to-do item.

  • Objective: where you want to be

    A short, ambitious statement people can remember: "Win the contractor market in our region." No number needed; that is the key results' job.

  • Key results: how you will know

    Two to five per objective, each with a start, a target and a unit. re:Work: "Key results are measurable and should be easy to grade with a number."

  • Outcomes, not activities

    "Hold 40 discovery calls" is work; "grow active accounts from 40 to 55" is the result the work should move. re:Work: "Key results should describe outcomes, not activities." Put the work under Initiatives.

  • Alignment: what it supports

    Note the company or team objective each one feeds, so a rep's OKRs line up with the manager's and the manager's with the company's.

Quotes and numbers on this page are from Google re:Work, "Set goals with OKRs", which recommends "three to five objectives with about three key results for each objective". It also says John Doerr learned OKRs from Andy Grove while at Intel.

How OKR scoring works

re:Work: "At Google, OKRs are usually graded on a scale of 0.0 to 1.0, 1.0 meaning the objective was fully achieved." Grade each key result, then average the key results for the objective.

This builder suggests a grade from progress: (current minus start) divided by (target minus start), rounded to one decimal. It works for key results that go down too, like days from quote to order. Type your own grade to override it.

Below 0.6
Short of the usual range. Look at what got in the way before the next quarter's OKRs.
0.6 to 0.7
re:Work: "The sweet spot for OKRs is somewhere in the 60-70% range."
Above 0.7
Strong. re:Work: "if someone consistently fully attains their objectives, their OKRs aren't ambitious enough."

Source: Google re:Work, "Set goals with OKRs".

Run a weekly OKR check-in in 15 minutes

OKRs set in week one and opened again in week thirteen do not move. A short weekly check-in keeps them alive:

  1. Each owner updates the current value before the meeting.
  2. Go round the key results: on track, at risk or off track, and one line on why.
  3. Spend the time on the at-risk ones: what is blocking them and who does what next.
  4. Note the decisions and next steps, then copy the check-in into the team channel.

OKR examples for sales and field service teams

Both are in the builder as examples you can load and change.

  • Sales team

    Win the contractor market in our region

    • Grow active contractor accounts from 40 to 55
    • Raise the win rate on qualified opportunities from 22% to 30%
    • Cut the time from quote to order from 12 days to 7

  • Field service team

    Fix it right the first time

    • Raise the first-time fix rate from 78% to 88%
    • Reduce repeat visits within 30 days from 9% to 5% of jobs

OKRs or SMART goals?

OKRs suit a team or a company setting a few ambitious objectives for a quarter, with key results checked every week and graded at the end. A SMART goal is one target for one person or project, written to be met in full. Many sales teams use both: OKRs for the team's quarter, SMART goals for each rep's share of it.

Writing a goal for one rep? Use the SMART goals template.

Which numbers to track every week, as opposed to the few you set out to change: sales KPIs.

Fitting the check-in into the team's week: meeting cadence.

More for sales and service leaders: field sales management, sales QBR, sales KPIs.

Run the OKR check-in. Keep what the team said.

The confidence calls, the blockers and the next steps come up in the check-in meeting. Record it with ParrotNotes and you get the transcript, a summary and the action items, so the notes in your OKRs match what the team actually said. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.

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OKR questions